***HEAVY TIMES are the most beautifully insane people I have ever met. They have been a staple of the Chicago rock n roll scene for years, always staying true to their unholy duty of reminding us all that punk rock is supposed to be dangerous, unstable, and unhinged. This 7” opens up with one of my favorite songs of the last five years, 'Dancer,' which I fell in love with the first time I heard them play it. The synth-driven electro-punk gem sounds like it could be from the soundtrack of some cocaine-fueled, good-cop-gone-bad b-movie from the eighties. And really the same could be said about almost all of the songs on this EP, in which we find Heavy Times exploring the new wave side of punk rock. This, of course, comes as no surprise to me, as every time I have partied at the Heavy Times clubhouse I have heard 'Hungry Like a Wolf' at least twice (no exaggeration) along with many eighties deep cuts I had never heard before. That being said, still present on the songs on this record are all of the Heavy Times trademarks—harmonizing guitar leads and post-apocalyptic lyrics laid over driving drums. They always somehow manage to keep an impossible balance between maintaining undeniable hooks and pop sensibility, without ever sacrificing a foreboding sense of menace, decay and impending doom throughout each song. This record serves as further proof that Heavy Times is still undeniably not only one of the best current bands in Chicago, but truly one of the punk rock heavyweights of our time. (Note: the burned out van on the cover of this record is the charred remains of Heavy Times guitarist Matt Courtade’s van, which exploded and burned to the ground along with all of Matt’s earthly possessions. Heavy Times indeed).